Deciphering the Basics of Color Seasons

If you've been following the series so far, you've had some time to play around with the color display widget and observe the different effects of color palettes for each of the seasons. Now is a good time to go look at that widget again, and then let's clarify a few more terms.

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Part 3: Basics of Colors, Seasons, Warm vs Cool

Warm Colors versus Cool Colors

Warm colors are the colors on the color wheel of red, red-orange, orange, orange-yellow, yellow, and yellow-green.

Cool colors are the colors on the color wheel of green, green-blue, blue, blue-violet, violet, and violet-red.

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Color Season versus Calendar Season

When we talk about a color season, we're talking about a selection of colors that work best with a particular eye, skin and hair color combination. This is not to be confused with the Fall Fashion Season 2007 colors toward which many fashion designers will gravitate... which depends entirely on who you talk to, since Paul Pelssers says that the season's colors will be rich jeweled shades mixing gypsy, country, Irish and Russian influences, and Premiere Vision states "...Shiny or ultra-matt, metallic, not completely plain or concentrated, colours grow languid with a serene and enveloping decency..." while Fashion Trendsetter swears by "...Bright hues mixed with pale tones, matching colors and opposites...".

But no matter who says what: Color seasons are not meant to be worn only during seasons of the year.

Some color season analyses will take more than physical appearance into account. One such test is found at What Season Woman Are You, which also considers personality traits.

In addition to eye color, some also look at the patterns found in the eye itself. To quote Color Me A Season:

Each season has a dominant feature which is shown in the eye. The SUMMER eye appears as crackly glass, WINTER - spokes on a wheel, SPRING - Yellow sunburst around a gray doughnut shape, AUTUMN - Aztec sun directly around the pupil with specks and dots sometimes.

At its most basic, the color seasons can be divided as:

Warm	Cool
Autumn	Summer
Spring	Winter

Stay tuned... our next step will start to determine your personal color season.

How to Tame the Color Palette Demons

We've all done it. Run into a store, see the perfect dress / skirt / blouse / outfit, race to try it on, give it the nod of approval, pull out the Mastercard, then get that perfect purchase home and ... HATE IT. The perfect purchase gets returned or stuffed into the back of the closet. Who knows, it might change to a better color after being stored for a few years.

One thing that may lie behind bad choices like those is the truth of the color. What looks great in the lighting of the store and dressing room may not look great at all in sunlight or the lighting in your bathroom. One way to avoid lying color is to become very comfortable with your own personal color palette, and that alone will guide you away from that particular color palette demon.

But that's not why we're here for Part 2. It's time, instead, to get used to what colors and color combinations look like. Don't laugh too hard - of COURSE you know what blue looks like. Right?

(Don't be surprised, though, if someone swears that navy skirt they've got on is really black. Some people cannot tell the difference.)

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Part 2: Exploring Color Palette Variations

Rather than get into a great big discussion about color palettes and how to select one that matches your hair, skin, and eyes, spend some time looking at the dropdowns to the right of the color bar display - click on a few things, fiddle with the knobs, and get used to how the widget responds.

Pay particular attention to the Nature dropdown. Notice that, in addition to the standards of Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter selections, you can visualize Tropical, Wood, and Water. Other dropdowns are Colors, Types and Moods. Spend some time with them before we go further.

Color Palette Tools

Are You a Summer, Winter, Spring, Autumn or What

Each of us has a particular range of color palettes that flatter our natural coloring the best. A special shade of blue that makes our eyes dazzle. That certain green tone that brings out those highlights in your hair. We may not yet know exactly why we gravitate toward a certain color or palette, but it's not voodoo or witchcraft.


Anyone can find their true colors, and we're going to get started in that direction in a moment. Let's demystify a few of the terms first:

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Part 1: Working the Color Wheel

Terms and Definitions

• Primary: red, yellow, blue
  
• Secondary: orange, violet, green - formed by combining primary colors
  
• Tertiary: red-orange, red-violet, yellow-green, yellow-orange, blue-green, blue-violet
  
• Warm: red, red-orange, orange, yellow-orange, yellow, yellow-green
  
• Cool: green, blue-green, blue, blue-violet, violet, red-violet
  
• Hue: color
  
• Tint: a color blended with white
  
• Shade: a color blended with black
  
• Value: the darkness or lightness of a hue
  
• Saturation: the strength or weakness of a color (the more the color is mixed with other colors, the less saturated it becomes).
  
• Monochromatic: of one color, variations on a single color
  
• Analogous harmony: two or more neighboring colors (red, red-orange, orange)
  
• Complementary: colors on opposite sides of the color wheel (red and green, violet and yellow)
  

Here's what you will want to have on hand, to get ready for the next part of our exercise.

• Hair color
  
• Skin tone (warm or cool)
  
• Eye color (without the contacts)
  
• Your absolutely positively most favorite blouse or scarf
  

Sponsored by The Beauty Lass, part of the Perfectly Shaped World.